Collet hose bracket

ABSTRACT

A collet hose bracket includes a central metal conduit structure which can be physically clamped to adjacent machine structures and a pair of collet hose couplings attached to each end thereof, whereby high pressure flexible hoses can be tethered in the area of articulated hitches and the like of earthmoving equipment where there is danger of environmental damage to such hoses and therefore a necessity to tether them.

United States Patent 1 Thais et a1.

[ COLLET HOSE BRACKET [75] Inventors: Ja1 n es W. Thais, Decatur;

Donald E. Daykin, Taylorville, both of 111,

[73] Assignee: Caterpillar Tractor Co., Peoria [22] Filed: Dec. 10, 1971[21] Appl. No.: 206,780

[52] U.S. Cl 285/62, 285/137 R, 285/257 [51] Int. Cl F161 3/00 [58]Field of Search 248/49, 73;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,325,194 6/1967 Grawey285/322 X 8/1950 Stoecklin 285/61 Aug. 7, 1973 3,125,359 3/1964 Charles285/137 R X 3,279,827 10/1966 Brown 285/137 R X FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 158,642 2/1921 Great Britain 285/243 Primary ExaminerDaveW. Arola Attorney-Joseph L. Strabala et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT A collet hose bracket includesa central metal conduitstructure which can be physically clamped to adjacent machine structuresand a pair of collet hose couplings attached to each end thereof,whereby high pressure flexible hoses can be tethered in the area ofarticulated hitches and the like of earthmoving equipment where there isdanger of environmental damage to such hoses and therefore a necessityto tether them.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures PATENIEDAUK 1w 3.751.076

' sum 2 BF 2 PRIOR ART BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION High pressure wirereinforced flexible hydraulic hose is often used in earthmoving vehiclesto connect the several parts of hydraulic circuitry on different partsof the machine. For example, often common hydraulic circuits arecontained on both halves of articulated vehicles and it is necessary tointerconnect them with flexible hydraulic hose so that the several partsof the machine can move relative to each other. The high pressurehydraulic hoses employed across the hitch mechanism between aconventional two-wheel tractor and scraper combination, such as shown inU.S. Pat. No. 3,31 1,389, issued to Barton et al., are amplyillustrative of the environment where the collet hose bracket isdesigned to be used, and is the environment in which the invention willbe described, though its application is not limited thereto.

In the scraper environments mentioned above, the hydraulic high pressureflexible hose must be tethered to prevent its inadvertent contact orengagement with the moving parts of the hitch mechanism duringarticulation or other movements of the hitch resulting from eithermovement of the hitch or hose movement, caused by pressuresand surgestherein. Clamping andlor strapping these flexible hydraulic hoses toadjacent structures to prevent their inadvertent entanglement in thehitch mechanism have often contributed to the filure of the hose becauseof the tendency of these hoses to grow both linearly and radially whenpressurized, especially during pressure surges, which prevents thesehoses from being tightly clamped; and if they are not tightly clamped,they will move within the clamp leading to wear and subsequent failure.

Therefore it is an object of the current invention to provide animproved collet type bracket-for tethering flexible hydraulic hose whichovercomes many of the difficulties experienced with prior art clampingdevices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Other objects and advantages of this inventionwill become apparent from the description of the novel collet bracketwhich includes a hollow conduit member having a central portion and anintegral stem portion at each end thereof, a pair of cylindrical colletshaving a radial wall at one end with a central stem aperture in itsradial wall and a plurality of axially extending fingers extending fromthe periphery of the radial wall formed by axial slots, with one of saidcollets coaxially assembled on each end of the conduit member in aspaced relationship so their fingers encircle their associated stemportion and the collets being fixedly joined to the conduit member inthe stem aperture, a pair of sleeve members each having a stepped boreconnected with a ramp portion adapted to be assembled with a cylindricalcollet to force its fingers toward its associated stem portion, and amounting fixture having an aperture for receiving the central portion ofthe hollow conduit member for attaching the unit to adjacent machinestructures for tethering high pressure hydraulic hose connected to itsopposite ends.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a broken-away elevation of ahitch assembly between a two-wheeled tractor and a scraper, illustratingtwo high pressure hydraulic hoses extending thereacross andintermediately tethered with the novel collet bracket;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the collet bracket shown in FIG. 1, with partsbroken away to show additional de tail;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the collet bracket illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the collet bracket along lines IV-IV ofFIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a prior art clamping bracket for high pressure hydraulic hosein similar environments.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1 two novel colletbrackets 10 are illustrated in a hydropneumatic scraper hitch assembly11 which allows both vertical movement and articulated movement betweenthe tractor and scraper combination more fully shown in U.S. Pat. No.3,31 1,389, issued to Barton et al. In such a hitch, an A-frame 12 ispivoted horizontally on the tractor (not shown) and connected to anintermediate hitch member 13 through upper links 14 and lower links 15with horizontal pivot pin connections 14a and 15a, respectively, in amanner that the intermediate hitch member can move vertically under thecontrol of jack l6 diagonally disposed between pivot pin connections.The intermediate hitch member is connected to a gooseneck structure 17of thescraper through a vertical pivot connection 18 which allowsarticulation between the tractor and scraper. As can be seen in FIG. 1,a pair of high pressure-hydraulic flexible hoses 19, which are typicalof those employed to connect common hydraulic circuits on the tractorwith those on the scraper are shown traversing the hitch assembly, andit can be appreciated that these hoses must accommodate the full rangeof movements in the hitch assembly described above.

If these high pressure hoses were not tethered between their connectionon the tractor and the fittings 20 on the gooseneck structure of thescraper, they would most likely foul in the moving parts of the hitchmechanisms. Clamping the hoses tight enough to prevent their movementalong the hose axis, as illustrated in FIG. 5, can'cause ballooning (seearrows A) on the upstream (pressure) side of the clamp as well as upsetthe uniform stress pattern in the wire reinforcing in the hosestructure, that leads to rupture, due to a lack of stress uniformity andradial growth of the hose under pressure surges within the hose body. Inturn, loosely clamping these hoses will often allow them to "work in theclamp due to axial movement along the hose axis (see arrows C) as thehose lengthens and contracts under the influences of pressure changeswithin the hose body. Also the hose will tend to rotate within the clampunder various torsional-loading as the tractor and scraper articulaterelative to one another in a -loose clamp causing unnecessary wear..Thus the prior art tethering techniques are not very satisfactory insuch environments and often cause hose failure in the hitch assembly andlike environments, which can spray high pressure, hot oil over a largearea, endangering the operator of such equipment.

By contrast the instant invention eliminates the abuse of hosestructures where they are tethered in such environment by providinga-special collet bracket 10 which is designed to be secured directly toadjacent structures in order to provide a suitable tether for suchhoses. By

referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 where the collet bracket is best illustrated,its hollow cylindrical conduit 30 is shown having a central portion 31with identical integral stem portions 32 at its opposite ends. Havinggrooves 33 in the outer surfaces of these stem portions assist inholding the internal hose structure on the opposite ends of the bracket.The central portion 31 of the cylindrical conduit can assume variousconfigurations, such as curves or U-shaped configurations since itsphysical configuration is not critical. Assembled on this cylindricalconduit are a pair of collet members 34, each having a radial wallportion 35 with a stem aperture 36 centrally formed therein so that itcan be telescoped over a stem portion at an end of the hollow conduitand secured to the conduit member where the stem portion joins thecentral portion. Extending from the periphery of the radial wall portionin one direction, encircling its stem portion, are a plurality ofaxially extending fingers 37 which can be formed in the cylindricalcollet by a plurality of slots extending from one end thereof andterminating adjacent to the radial wall of the collet. When thesecollets are assembled on the cylindrical conduit they can be fixedlyjoined thereto at their junction J with the central portion of theconduit member by brazing, welding the like, thelike, so that therecylindrical disposed fingers will encircle their associated stemportion, leaving the central portion 31 of the cylindrical memberunobstructed.

As described, the outer surface of each collet 34 will be cylindricalwhen assembled on the hollow conduit 30 so there will be a space betweentheir fingers 37 delineated by the plurality of axial slots in thecylindrical wall of the collet and their encircled stem portion. As aresult of this arrangement a skived end S of a hydraulic hose 19 can bepushed on the stem so that it will pass under the fingers 37 of thecollet until its end abuts against the radial wall 35 as can be seen inFIG. 2. Thereafter a sleeve 38, having a stepped bore 39 with the boresconnected by a conical or ramped portion 40 which previously was placedon the hose end can be forced on each collet member to drive its fingersradially towards the stem to grip the skived end S of the hose. Thuseach of the high pressure hydraulic hoses19 is separated and then hasits ends rejoined with the collet bracket 10, according to the abovedescribed procedures. It can be appreciated that these collet bracketscan be assembled in any intermediate portions of hose precisely duringthe manufacturing thereof whereby errors in tethering the hoses onassemblies, such as a scraper hitch described above will be avoided forimproved quality control.

Each sleeve 38 is designed so that its coaxially aligned bores are inessentially a parallel relationship with the stems outer surface and thebores are sized so that its larger diameter bore will snuggly fit theperiphery of the radial wall portion 35 of the collet 30 on which it isassembled and so its smaller bore will radially drive the individualfingers 37 of each collet towards their associated stem portion, withthe slots between these fingers allowing them to collapse radially togrip the skived end S of the hoses 19 assembled on the respective stemportion of a bracket. The ramp portion 40 between the stepped bores willcause the fingers to be driven progressively inward toward the stemwhich should be malleable to allow slight deformation as the sleeve isinstalled by axially advancing it on the collet as this will insuremaximum gripping action of the skived end of the hose without damagingthe integrity of the reinforcing wires of the hydraulic hose. Thegripping action accomplished by each end of the collet bracket issimilar to that described in US. Pat. No. 3,325,194, issued to Graweyand reference is made to this patent with respect to this grippingaction and incorporated herein.

As indicated above, the central portion 31 of the conduit 30 isunobstructed between the radial walls 35 of the collets 34 which arefixedly joined on the opposite ends of this conduit. Since this portionis essentially a metal tube it can be secured with a mounting fixture 50which includes a spacer member 51 and a strap member 52 which aresecured toone another by tap bolts 53 which pass therethrough and intothreaded bores in the adjacent machine structures to which the bracketis to be attached. An aperture 54 is provided in the mounting fixturewhose width W is less than the space between the radial walls 35 mountedon the conduit so that its central portion can be received in thisaperture. This central portion can be clamped tightly in the aperturesothat it isheld immobile against radial or axial movement oralternatively can be loosely held to allow rotational movement of theconduit within the mounting fixture, so that torsional loads on thehydraulic hose can be dissipated over the full length of the hose onboth sides of the bracket. Generally if this rotational movement isdesired in the bracket a bearing structure would be formed (not shown)in the middle of the central portion of the hollow conduit 30 so thatthis movement can be accommodated without allowing the radial walls ofthe collet to axially abut against the opposite sides of the mountingfixture, which could occur with considerable force due to the axialgrowth and contraction of the high pressure hydraulic hose underpressure variations. The spacer member is sized to keep the sleeves 38on each end of the bracket clear of the adjacent structures and toprovide a slight standoff of the hydraulic hose in the area of thetethering accomplished by the new bracket.

We claim:

l. A collet hose bracket for tethering high pressure reinforced hosecomprising:

- a hollow conduit member having a central portion and integral stemportions at each end of said central portion; pair of cylindricalcollets, each collet having a radial wall with a central stem apertureand a plurality of circumferentially disposed fingers extending axiallyfrom the outer periphery of its radial wall, with said colletstelescoped over said stem portions and fixedly joined to said centralportion in spaced relationship so their fingers encircle theirassociated stem portion leaving an annular space therebetween; pair ofsleeve members, each of said sleeve members having a stepped boreconnected with a conical ramp portion, said sleeve members adapted to bereceived over said collet members and operable to drive said fingers ofits associated collet member toward their associated stem portion togrip a skived end of a reinforced hose inserted on its stem portion insaid annular space when said sleeve member is assembled thereon in atelescoped relationship; and a mounting means adapted to secure thecentral portion of said hollow conduit for attaching the collet hosebracket to adjacent machinery structures to tether high pressurereinforced hose connected thereto, said mounting means including astand-off member operable to support said collet hose bracket in spacedrelationship relative to adjacent machinery and clamping means operableto secure said central portion of the hollow conduit against bothrotational and axial movement with reference to said mounting means,said clamping means including a semi circular notch in said stand-offmember and a cap member, said cap member having a cooperating semicircular notch between member.

1. A collet hose bracket for tethering high pressure reinforced hosecomprising: a hollow conduit member having a central portion andintegral stem portions at each end of said central portion; a pair ofcylindrical collets, each collet having a radial wall with a centralstem aperture and a plurality of circumferentially disposed fingersextending axially from the outer periphery of its radial wall, with saidcollets telescoped over said stem portions and fixedly joined to saidcentral portion in spaced relationship so their fingers encircle theirassociated stem portion leaving an annular space therebetween; a pair ofsleeve members, each of said sleeve members having a stepped boreconnected with a conical ramp portion, said sleeve members adapted to bereceived over said collet members and operable to drive said fingers ofits associated collet member toward their associated stem portion togrip a skived end of a reinforced hose inserted on its stem portion insaid annular space when said sleeve member is assembled thereon in atelescoped relationship; and a mounting means adapted to secure thecentral portion of said hollow conduit for attaching the collet hosebracket to adjacent machinery structures to tether high pressurereinforced hose connected thereto, said mounting means including astand-off member operable to support said collet hose bracket in spacedrelationship relative to adjacent machinery and clamping means operableto secure said central portion of the hollow conduit against bothrotational and axial movement with reference to said mounting means,said clamping means including a semi circular notch in said stand-offmember and a cap member, said cap member having a cooperating semicircular notch between which notches said central portion of said hollowconduit is received and bolt means extending through said cap member andsaid stand-off member operable to urge said cap toward said stand-offmember thereby achieving a positive clamping action and securing themounting means on adjacent machinery structures, said notches beingsized so said central portion of said hollow conduit insertedtherebetween locates the entire cap member in a spaced relationship withreference to said stand-off member.